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Almost 25 years to the day after he took the keys to the pro shop as the new PGA of Australia professional at Bermagui Country Club, Chris Hearn has left a job that has given him so much, but not nearly as much as he gave the club and its golfers.
Hailing from Sydney and starting his PGA training in the 1970s at New Brighton Golf Club (Brighton Lakes), Hearn travelled Australia playing the game professionally before settling in the South Coast of New South Wales.
Hearn took over the contract at Bermagui on April 1, 1999, and raised his children with wife Joan.
Following a run of professionals who were in the role for short periods, Hearn took the job with the full intention of staying on at Bermagui, and went straight to work, including personally being on site for 63 straight days.
Reflecting on his time as a highly respected teaching professional and friendly face to the members and visitors to the spectacular South Coast, Hearn remembered asking a player from the ‘Chook Run’ to mind the shop after those 63 days to go to the bank.
However, mostly his memories are of the people during his time that ended on March 31, 2024.
“I like talking to people and stuff like that. If someone came into the shop, I’d say, ‘How you going? Where are you from?’,” Hearn said.
“I’m just always interested in where people played. Basically, just the social side of it with the people and all the members.
“It’s been so good for us here. It’s just amazing. We are not going anywhere. I’ll see if I can play a couple of tournaments and teach a bit down here and just keep myself occupied.”
Speaking on the changing nature of Bermagui, where Hearn claims you couldn’t buy milk after 5pm when he arrived before the turn of the century – and where membership was $69 a year at the time – the 66-year-old will continue to teach at local clubs. But perhaps with a little more time spent at home.
Noted around the country for his teaching, with Gary Barter a regular sharer of swing thoughts, Hearn’s ability as a player has likely been missed by the thousands he has served with a smile on his face behind the counter, or on the teaching tee at Bermagui.
Playing four Australian Opens, including teeing it up with the likes of Ian Woosnam, Rodger Davis, Ian Stanley and Graham Marsh, Hearn remembers once driving a young Vijay Singh from a Pro-Am at Tullamarine to Flinders Street.
But while he has mixed it with big names from both here and abroad, many of Hearn’s favourite memories often include two fellow PGA of Australia members.
Travelling with the late AIS coach Ross Herbert led to Hearn meeting Joan on a blind date, while his great mate Larry Canning is a regular in tales.
Canning was one of those to speak at the Chris Hearn Golf Day held on March 23, when 144 players teed it up, that number swelling for the dinner that evening to honour his time at Bermagui. Brett Officer, Peter Lonard and PGA of Australia Chair, Rodger Davis, were among those to send messages of congratulations.
“It was fantastic,” Hearn said of the day and night.
“A lot of the guys sent messages. Brett Officer spoke and wished me all the best. I can remember playing with him in my first tournament, the 1978 New South Wales Open at Manly Golf Club.”
Beyond the countless stories with some of the biggest names in golf, and his love of the South Coast and Bermagui Country Club that will forever be linked with his name, Hearn also speaks proudly of his 45 years as a member of the PGA of Australia.
“I’ve always been proud to be a PGA member,” he said.
“It’s the camaraderie and stuff like that. I went to all the trade shows and all the seminars where they had all the guys that come out, Hank Haney, Jim Ballard, Gary Edwin and all those guys.
“It’s been so good, beautiful to us.”
Players from six separate nations will take on Australians hoping to shore up their status on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia when the Final Stage of Qualifying School begins at Moonah Links on Tuesday.
A total of 36 players advanced from two sections of First Stage played across the Open and Legends courses at Moonah Links last week and are now joined by 24 players who finished between 51st and 100th on the 2023/2024 Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
West Australian Joseph Owen was exempt into Final Stage due to his finish on the Future Tour Order of Merit last season while Singapore’s Ryan Ang and Argentinian Segundo Oliva Pinto have been issued amateur exemptions for a total field of 66 players.
Ang (pictured) was 11th at the Australian Men’s Amateur Championship in January while Oliva Pinto has spent five years playing college golf in the US, firstly for the University of North Carolina Wilmington and most recently the University of Arkansas.
Justin Quiban of the Philippines already boasts top-10 finishes on the Asian Tour while Canadian amateur Dustin Franko is another recent college graduate from The University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.
Congratulations to the 36 players advancing to the 2024-25 Final Stage Qualifying School at Moonah Links next week!
— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) April 5, 2024
Final scores: https://t.co/x31wjbjXFB pic.twitter.com/kmboLdeGm9
Along with four Kiwis, American Matt Siporin completes the league of nations, the mini tour veteran in the US successfully navigating First Stage of Q School to pursue full status for the 2024/2025 season.
In addition to the international contingent, there are a host of familiar Aussie names also eager to secure playing opportunities for the coming season.
Amateurs Jordan Doull (WA), Jye Pickin (NSW), Connor McDade (VIC), Ben Henkel (VIC), Tyler Duncan (QLD), Ryan Swann (QLD), Siddharth Nadimpalli (VIC), Blaike Perkins (QLD), Harry Goakes (VIC) and Dominic Brettkelly (NZ) can all kick-start their journey into the professional ranks while others, such as Lincoln Tighe, Nathan Barbieri and Denzel Ieremia are out to enhance their category positions.
Twelve months ago, New Zealand amateur Kazuma Kobori was Q-School medallist, going on to win three times in his rookie season to claim the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.
All four rounds of Final Stage will be played at the Moonah Links Open Course with Round 1 to tee off at 8am Tuesday morning.
The top 30 finishers will earn Full Tournament Membership of the PGA of Australia and be placed in a Tournament Exemption Category.
Those players finishing beyond 30th place and ties, who complete 72 holes at Final Stage, will be eligible for Full Tournament Membership of the PGA of Australia, however, they will not hold an exemption category for the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
All players who play 72 holes of the Final Stage will earn a pro-am exemption category and be eligible to enter adidas PGA Pro-Am series events.
Adam Scott completed a tidy warm-up for the Masters tournament with a top-15 finish in Texas today, but all eyes will be on an ill Cameron Smith as the players head for Augusta.
Scott closed with a 70 in the Valero Texas Open which left him tied-14th overall in his first appearance in that event in six years.
The 43-year-old will attend the champions’ dinner hosted by Jon Rahm this week at Augusta National with eyes on another green jacket.
He is the first and only Australian winner of the Masters, having beaten Angel Cabrera in a playoff in 2013.
This week will mark his 23th appearance at Augusta National, a streak that began in 2002.
Meanwhile Smith’s withdrawal from the LIV Golf event in Miami after one round with an unspecified illness has put a scare into his camp so close to the first major of 2024.
The Queenslander has been top-10 in four of his seven starts in the Masters, including a runner-up finish in 2020, and he would be one of the favourites this week assuming he is fit and well.
He played just one round in Miami, shooting a 3-over 75 and then withdrawing, and LIV management did not make any comment about his illness.
Australia has six competitors at the Masters – Scott, Smith, Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Cam Davis and amateur Jasper Stubbs.
Elsewhere none of the Australians competing in the LPGA Tour’s matchplay championship in Las Vegas reached the top 8 with Minjee Lee faring best in a tie for 15th.
Marc Leishman enjoyed a good week at LIV Golf Miami finishing tied-fourth.
PHOTO: Adam Scott driving on his way to a top-15 finish in Houston today. Image: Getty
RESULTS
PGA TOUR
Valero Texas Open
TPC San Antonio (Oaks Cse), San Antonio, Texas
LPGA Tour
T-Mobile Match Play
Shadow Creek, Las Vegas, Nevada
LIV Golf
LIV Golf Miami
Trump National Doral, Miami, Florida
*Smith withdrew with illness after round 1 and Campbell substituted in for rounds two and three
Korn Ferry Tour
Club Car Championship
The Landings Golf & Athletic Club (Deer Creek), Savannah, Georgia
David Crawford’s invitation to Andre Stolz to play the SA PGA Senior Foursomes Championship paid off handsomely with a two-stroke victory at Mount Gambier Golf Club.
Serving as a prelude to the MG Plasterers & Steeline SA PGA Seniors Championship to be played at Mount Gambier over the next two days, Stolz and Crawford teamed up for a 3-under par round of 69, two strokes clear of Michael Holden and John Onions (71) and Terry Pilkadaris and Mark Boulton (71).
Part of a five-way tie for the win last start at the Metro Homes Glenn Joyner Memorial Legends Pro-Am at Thaxted Park, Crawford reached out to Stolz for a tilt at the Senior Foursomes title.
Stolz obliged, the pair combining superbly thanks to some careful calculations prior to teeing off.
“We had a few decisions to make before we hit off actually, trying to work out who would be hitting off which tees,” said Stolz.
“There were a few par 3s on the even holes so we went through the course and thought that I’d take those and back myself with the irons, and they weren’t too bad for the most part.”
WHAT THE WINNERS SAID
Andre Stolz: “Overall we had a pretty cruisy day. We had a couple of stressful moments which foursomes always brings on but for the most part we kept it in play and didn’t have too many dramas.
“We had one little hiccup towards the end. Just tried to spur on ‘Craw’ to make two birdies to finish and we made one which was good.”
David Crawford: “I’m enjoying this year more so than last year. There were a few hiccups last year but this year, fully focused.
“It was such a pleasure to play with Andre early this year to try and get that confidence of how these guys play the game.”
LEADERBOARD RUNDOWN
1 Andre Stolz/David Crawford 69
T2 Michael Holden/John Onions 71
T2 Terry Pilkadaris/Mark Boulton 71
4 Brendan Chant/Michael Long 72
T5 Paul Powell/Ben Jackson 73
T5 David McKenzie/Wayne Rogers 73
NEXT UP
The strongest field of the PGA Legends Tour season to date has gathered at Mount Gambier for the MG Plasterers & Steeline SA PGA Seniors Championship. The 59-man field boasts legends such as Peter Senior, Peter Lonard, Andre Stolz, David McKenzie, Michael Long, Peter Fowler, Terry Price and Terry Pilkadaris. Day one on Sunday is a pro-am format followed by a seeded draw for the second and final round on Monday.
Amateurs from Queensland and Western Australia have had section wins in the First Stage of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia’s Qualifying School at Moonah Links.
Ryan Swann, from the Pacific Golf Club in Brisbane, topped Section A, played on the Legends Course, by two shots after a closing with a 5-under-par 67 to be 9-under for the 54 holes, two clear of fellow amateur Harry Goakes (Victoria), West Australian professional Adam Brady and Victorian pro Caleb Bovalina.
Brady surged home with the day’s low round, a 6-under 66.
In Section B on the Open Course, amateur Jordan Doull, from the Mt Lawley Golf Club in Perth, posted a 4-under-par 68 to catch the overnight leader, Queensland professional Zac Maxwell (72). The duo finished on 8-under, three ahead of Victoria’s Lachlan Aylen, who had the section’s low round of Friday – a 5-under 67.
With his place in next week’s Final Stage in jeopardy, Victorian amateur Connor McDade produced a bogey-free 4-under 68 on the Open Course to move on despite starting with a 77 which left him in a share of 35th on Wednesday.
He finished a tie for eighth at 1-under and was one of three members of the Australian team at last year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Royal Melbourne to be among the 18 players from their section to qualify for final stage.
Jye Pickin (NSW) shared fifth at 3-under, while Victoria’s Max Charles, who turned pro after a T4 finish at the Asia-Pacific, claimed a share of 15th at +1.
In Section A, the 18 qualifiers included the first-round leader Konrad Ciupek (T9 at 2-under) and recent Riversdale Cup champion Blaike Perkins who birdied his final hole to finish one shot inside the cut line in a tie for 16th at even-par.
The 72-hole Final Stage of Qualifying School, which has a confirmed field of 66 starters, gets underway on Tuesday with the top 30 finishers to earn Full Tournament Membership of the PGA of Australia and be placed in a Tournament Exemption Category.
Those players finishing beyond 30th place and ties, who complete 72 holes at Final Stage, will be eligible for Full Tournament Membership of the PGA of Australia, however, they will not hold an exemption category for the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia.
All players who play 72 holes of the Final Stage will earn a pro-am exemption category and be eligible to enter adidas PGA Pro-Am series events.
Photo: WA amateur Jordan Doull
TGL presented by SoFi, the new team golf league that includes Australians Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott, will appear on Fox Sports in Australia when its inaugural season begins in January next year.
Backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports, TGL presented by SoFi consists of six teams of PGA TOUR superstars competing in a progressive, fast-paced form of team golf within the custom-built SoFi Center, a 250,000 square foot, steel-supported venue on the campus of Palm Beach State College in Florida.
Scott will be lining up for the Boston Common team that includes McIlroy, while Lee has committed to the TGL but has yet to be allocated to a team.
The TGL will add to the list of golf events available live or on demand on Fox Sports Australia via Foxtel and Kayo Sports. It is also home to the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and the best international golf including the PGA TOUR, The Masters, PGA Championship, US Open, The Open, Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup and LPGA Tour.
“Golf is truly a global game and as we plan the launch of TGL presented by SoFi in 2025, we’re focused on expanding TGL’s global footprint. We’re starting with media rights partnerships across three strong golf markets: Australia, Japan, and South Korea. We’re energised by the enthusiasm from these partners and the momentum we’re seeing in additional markets around the world,” said Mike McCarley, CEO and founder of TMRW Sports.
Additional media partners and markets being added as the league approaches its debut in January 2025, which will be broadcast by ESPN in the U.S.
What is the TGL?
TGL will launch on the first three Tuesdays of January 2025, starting with Tuesday, January 7 in primetime on ESPN and ESPN+ in the U.S.
The SoFi Center is an unprecedented, tech-infused arena for golf and will create an intimate and unique “greenside” fan experience with 1500 seats wrapping around TGL’s field of play, which at nearly 100 yards long and 50 yards wide is almost the size of a football field.
Within TGL’s competitive matches, the integration of the league’s technology mix starts with teams teeing off in the ScreenZone from real grass tee boxes to play custom-designed, virtual holes projected onto a 3,000-square-foot screen (64’x46’), more than 20 times larger than a standard golf simulator screen (144 square feet, 16’x9’).
Once teams are inside approximately 50 yards they will transition to live action and finish each hole within TGL’s GreenZone, a 22,475-square-foot short game complex that transforms between holes.
The GreenZone will use advanced technology to make each hole a unique challenge for the teams, including its 41-yard-wide turntable that rotates the green and three bunkers to change approach angles and using nearly 600 motorized actuators as part of Full Swing’s Virtual Green technology embedded under the synthetic putting surface to morph its topography.
TGL’s technology mix allows for every shot to be broadcast live, teams playing within a 40-second shot clock, all players being mic’d, delivery of advance shot data, and other broadcast enhancements. To learn more about TGL and the six teams, competitive format, and technology, visit TGL’s Explainer Page.
The TGL teams
Team brands and community-building activities for TGL’s six inaugural teams will continue to be unveiled this year, as will the season schedule and other fan-centric elements. Each TGL team is comprised of four PGA TOUR players and will have three players compete in each match:
Atlanta Drive GC: Led by Arthur M. Blank, AMB Sports and Entertainment (Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, PGA TOUR Superstores). Team Roster: Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel, and Lucas Glover
Boston Common Golf: Led by John Henry, Tom Werner, Mike Gordon, and Fenway Sports Group (Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC, Pittsburgh Penguins, RFK Racing). Team Roster: Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott and fourth team member to be announced.
Jupiter Links Golf Club: Led by Tiger Woods’ TGR Ventures and David Blitzer (Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Devils, Cleveland Guardians, Washington Commanders, Crystal Palace FC, Real Salt Lake). Team Roster: Tiger Woods and remaining roster to be announced.
Los Angeles Golf Club: Led by Alexis Ohanian, Seven Seven Six, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams; as well as limited partners the Antetokounmpo brothers, Alex Morgan, Servando Carrasco, Michelle Wie West, and Tisha Alyn. Team Roster: Tommy Fleetwood, Sahith Theegala, Collin Morikawa, and Justin Rose
New York Golf Club: Led by Steven A. Cohen (New York Mets), Cohen Private Ventures. Team Roster: Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Cameron Young.
TGL San Francisco: A group led by Avenue Sports Fund with Marc Lasry, Stephen Curry; as well as limited partners Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson. Team name and roster: To be announced.
Additional committed TGL players: Wyndham Clark, Max Homa, Tom Kim, Min Woo Lee, Shane Lowry, and Kevin Kisner.
Australian Adam Scott has added this week’s Valero Texas Open and skipped his customary pre-tournament visit to Augusta National to recapture the confidence needed to win The Masters for a second time.
The 2013 Masters champion is returning to TPC San Antonio for the first time since 2018 and for just the fourth time in his career, calling on his memories from his triumph in 2010 to finalise his preparation for next week’s tilt at Augusta National.
Top 10 at the WM Open in Phoenix, Scott missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and was tied for 45th at THE PLAYERS in his two most recent starts on the PGA TOUR.
That is in part the reason for being in Houston this week in favour of a reconnaissance mission to a course he now knows as well as anyone.
“Most years I do,” Scott said of a visit to Augusta National prior to tournament week.
“I don’t have tons of time just to float up there and I thought it wasn’t the big priority for me leading into this Masters.
“I think I can go in there at this point feeling pretty comfortable and should be confident that I know the golf course well enough on a couple practice rounds Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Things are always changing not only with the PGA TOUR schedule, but with where my game is at, with what’s going on around me and trying to balance everything and make the best decisions.
“I equally like playing in Houston, I’ve won in Houston as well and I’ve won here, but you just can’t play every week.
“You’ve got to just make kind of gut decisions on really what you need. I’m happy that this time it’s worked out that I’m back here at Valero.”
Admitting that The Masters is front of mind, Scott is conscious that winning form is good form.
Without a win since his victory at the Genesis Invitational in 2020, the 43-year-old believes his game is in a place that a second Texas Open triumph is well within reach exactly 100 years since Joe Kirkwood Snr became the first Australian to win the event.
“As much as we all think about next week, I’m here, I want a good result,” said Scott, who was tied for 23rd in his title defence in 2011.
“I’d like to win a trophy, that’s still what I’m trying to do out here. It’s been a long time since I
have lifted a trophy.
“I feel like my game is in that place where it could turn any week. It’s all there, I need to somehow put myself in that position and make a putt at the right time and get back in that spot.”
On the LPGA Tour, the T-Mobile Match Play is underway at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas.
In a new format this year, the top 65 and ties after 36 holes of stroke play will advance to a third strokeplay round, after which the top eight will contest the match play section on the weekend.
Aussie No.1 Minjee Lee has started well to be tied for sixth late in her opening round, Gabi Ruffels (72) and Stephanie Kyriacou (73) tied for 18th and tied for 33rd respectively.
Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images
Round 1 tee times AEDT
PGA TOUR
Valero Texas Open
TPC San Antonio (Oaks Cse), San Antonio, Texas
12:04am* Brian Harman, Matt Fitzpatrick, Adam Scott
12:48am David Lipsky, Dylan Wu, Ryan Fox (NZ)
1:32am Harrison Endycott, Kevin Dougherty, Alex Welch
4:46am* Martin Laird, Aaron Baddeley, Zac Blair
Defending champion: Corey Conners
Past Aussie winners: Joe Kirkwood Snr (1924), Bruce Crampton (1964), Adam Scott (2010), Steven Bowditch (2014)
Prize money: $US9.2m
TV times: Live 11:30pm-7am Thursday; Live 11:15pm-7am Friday; Live 1am-8am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
LPGA Tour
T-Mobile Match Play
Shadow Creek, Las Vegas, Nevada
Round 1 scores
1 Sei Young Kim 66
T5 Minjee Lee 2-under thru 14
T9 Lydia Ko 71
T18 Gabriela Ruffels 72
T33 Stephanie Kyriacou 73
T90 Sarah Kemp 80
Defending champion: Pajaree Anannarukarn
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2m
TV times: Live 9am-12pm Friday; Live 8:30am-11:30am Saturday on Fox Sports 505; Live 8am-11am Sunday on Fox Sports 503; Live 8am-11am Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.
LIV Golf
LIV Golf Miami
Trump National Doral, Miami, Florida
Australasians in the field: Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert, Matt Jones, Danny Lee (NZ)
Defending champion: Bryson DeChambeau
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US20m
TV times: Live from 4:15am Saturday, Sunday, Monday on 7Plus.
Korn Ferry Tour
Club Car Championship
The Landings Golf & Athletic Club (Deer Creek), Savannah, Georgia
10:10pm* Brett Drewitt, Max McGreevy, Tain Lee
10:20pm Austin Smotherman, Dimi Papadatos, Jeff Overton
3:46am Curtis Luck, Tommy Gainey, Henrik Norlander
3:46am* Rhein Gibson, Sean O’Hair, Chris Petefish
Defending champion: David Skinns
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US1m
Australian Golf has teamed up with New Era, the world’s leading headwear and lifestyle brand, in a new three-year partnership.
The producer of performance headwear for some of the world’s finest leagues, teams and athletes since 1920 is now the Official Headwear Partner across Australian golf’s peak bodies – Golf Australia and the PGA of Australia, as well as an official partner of the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and WPGA Tour of Australasia.
The partnership also includes Australia’s three biggest Tour events – the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, Australian PGA Championship and Vic Open.
As a highlight of the new agreement, special edition items, available to the public, will be produced for tournaments across New Era’s lifestyle and traditional golf caps and bucket hat collections.
PGA of Australia Commercial Director Australasia Michael McDonald said: “Golf and New Era is a perfect fit. It’s exciting for us to team up with such a well-recognised and loved brand which transcends fashion and sport.
“We are looking forward to working closely with New Era in the coming years and are excited at the plans they have to activate the partnership across Australian Golf.
“We will be working together to create a new range of street-based golf products to cater to the demands of the younger generation who are increasingly loving the game of golf.
“There will also be opportunities for New Era to increase their connection with the highly skilled PGA Professionals, who are at the forefront of promoting and growing golf at clubs and facilities across the country.”
New Era Cap Australia General Manager Simon Hibbs said: “New Era is very pleased to announce its partnership with Australian Golf.
“New Era has a global reach in the game of golf and now is an exciting time for New Era to expand that to include Australia. New Era look forward to working with Golf Australia, the PGA of Australia and WPGA Tour of Australasia to innovate and grow the headwear program with our unique sports lifestyle DNA.”
New Era Caps are the official on-field headwear partner to some of the world’s biggest sporting leagues including the MLB, NBA and NFL.
Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Sam Snead and Zach Johnson. That’s the elite list of golfers, including the biggest names in the history of the men’s professional game, that Australia’s Cam Smith will be looking to join by winning the 2024 Masters next week.
That special group of six are the only men in history to win an Open Championship on the Old Course at St Andrews and the Masters at Augusta National.
Smith completed half the task two years ago, seeing off Rory McIlroy on the final day at The Home of Golf, and will be back at Augusta next week for his second shot at becoming the first Australian to win at both fabled venues.
Last year, he tied for 34th – an unusual outlier on a record that features four top-10s, including a tie for second behind Dustin Johnson in 2020 when he became the first player to shoot in the 60s in all four rounds.
Smith comes into Masters month after a three-week break from tournament golf following his runner-up finish in the LIV Golf event in Hong Kong where he was beaten in a playoff by Abraham Ancer.
Since then he’s been working hard at his US base, especially on shaping shots to suit what he expects to encounter at Augusta.
“It’d be unreal. The Open at St Andrews is pretty special. To double it up with a green jacket would be unbelievable,” he said of joining the St Andrews-Augusta club.
“I desperately want to get it and it would be awesome if I did.”
An avid TV watcher of the Masters at home in Brisbane’s northern suburbs since he was “five or six-years-old”, Smith says his mind turns to the year’s first major as soon as the Christmas-New Year break ends.
“You’re straight into it and you’re definitely thinking about Augusta,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s really anything specific. It’s kind of in the back of your mind.
“Obviously there’s tournaments in between the New Year and Augusta that you’re trying to prepare for as well.
“But the last three weeks I’ve been trying to get out on the course a little bit more and really focus on some kind of shot, shaping and controlling flight, which I think is pretty crucial for playing good around there.”
Smith will be one six confirmed Australians in the Masters field, joining former champion Adam Scott, Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Cam Davis and first-time participant Jasper Stubbs.
Smith and Stubbs, who qualified for his first trip to Augusta National as the winner of last year’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, are near-neighbours at the moment – both in Florida preparing for the first major championship of the year, starting on Thursday week.
Smith is heading to a LIV Golf event in Miami, starting on Friday, while Stubbs is staying at Australian Golf House in Orlando before making the short trip to Georgia this weekend.
The former Open champion, who will be playing at the Masters for the eighth time, today described the Masters as “probably the best week of the year for everything”.
“(My advice to Jasper is) Just to enjoy it. I’m sure a lot of the boys will be keen to catch up with him and play 18 holes with him some day early in the week,” Smith said of his country’s newest Masters debutant.
“It’s such a cool tournament. He’ll love it.
“For a golfer, it’s pretty perfect. The golf course itself is unbelievable, the condition is unbelievable and also just the stuff around there for all the patrons.
“All the different things make everyone’s experience pretty special.”
It took world No.1 Nelly Korda to deny Australian Hira Naveed one of the greatest upsets in LPGA Tour history at the inaugural Ford Championship in Arizona.
A graduate of the LPGA Q Series in December, the West Australian was making just the second start of her rookie season and made the cut on the number courtesy of back-to-back birdies late in Round 2 at Seville Golf and Country Club.
The 26-year-old shot 7-under 65 in the third round and when she made birdie at the par-3 eighth on Sunday, joined Korda at the top of the leaderboard at 15-under par.
A bogey on nine against Korda’s birdie would create a two-shot deficit that Naveed (66) was unable to rein in, Korda (65) going on to win her third consecutive tournament by two strokes.
Although denied a maiden professional win, Naveed’s runner-up cheque for $US206,791 is more than she won in total the past four years on the Epson Tour… by $104,429.
The result all but guarantees Naveed will keep her card for the 2025 season and will ensure she can set her own schedule for the remainder of the 2024 season.
“It’s an experience for me,” said Naveed, who spent four years at Pepperdine University after coming through the Como Secondary College program in Perth.
“It’s only my second tournament of the year, so just try to enjoy it as best as I can.”
It's getting interesting here at the #FordChampionship 👀
— LPGA (@LPGA) March 31, 2024
Naveed birdie putts for the co-lead ‼️ pic.twitter.com/0SAysfPtDd
Naveed shared the final-round stage with Korda, an experience in itself will serve her well in the months ahead.
She had five of her eight career top-10 finishes on the Epson Tour last year and said being in contention prepared her for a potentially life-changing weekend in Arizona.
“She’s an amazing player. To share the stage with her is really an honour,” said Naveed.
“It was a great day. Just fell short, but, again, it’s an experience so we move on.
“I put myself in some positions last year where I was in the final groups and it is great experience.
“The Epson Tour is full of so much talent, and they’re just that one step away from the LPGA.”
At one point midway through Round 2, Hannah Green and Gabriela Ruffels were tied for the lead, Ruffels continuing her strong start with a tie for 13th, Green finishing tied for 21st.
Greg Chalmers ensured he’ll earn another start on the PGA TOUR Champions with a tie for ninth at The Galleri Classic at Rancho Mirage while Cam Davis was our best on the PGA TOUR, tied for 21st at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Results
PGA TOUR
Texas Children’s Houston Open
Memorial Park Golf Course, Houston, Texas
1 Stephan Jaeger 69-66-66-67—268 $US1.638m
T21 Cam Davis 68-71-68-67—274 $88,725
T64 Harrison Endycott 69-72-69-71—281 $19,383
T78 Ryan Fox (NZ) 71-70-73-71—285 $17,017
82 Aaron Baddeley 72-69-74-72—287 $16,471
MC Jason Day 72-70—142
MC Rhein Gibson 72-71—143
DP World Tour
Hero Indian Open
DLF G&CC, New Delhi, India
1 Keita Nakajima 65-65-68-73—271 €354,956.18
MC Tom Power Horan 71-73—144
MC Elvis Smylie 74-70—144
MC Haydn Barron 74-71—145
MC Kazuma Kobori (NZ) 78-71—149
MC Deyen Lawson 76-74—150
MC Sam Jones (NZ) 76-74—150
MC John Lyras 83-75—158
WD Daniel Hillier (NZ) 74
WD Andrew Martin 77
WD David Micheluzzi 75
LPGA Tour
Ford Championship presented by KCC
Seville Golf and Country Club, Gilbert, Arizona
1 Nelly Korda 66-68-69-65—268 $US337,500
2 Hira Naveed 68-71-65-66—270 $206,791
T13 Gabriela Ruffels 64-70-70-69—273 $30,795
T13 Lydia Ko (NZ) 69-64-70-70—273 $30,795
T21 Hannah Green 69-61-75-69—274 $23,346
T45 Karis Davidson 66-69-71-72—278 $8,620
T52 Grace Kim 66-69-70-74—279 $7,133
T56 Robyn Choi 66-72-70-72—280 $6,227
MC Stephanie Kyriacou 70-70—140
MC Sarah Kemp 69-74—143
MC Minjee Lee 68-76—144
Japan Golf Tour
Token Homemate Cup
Token Tado Country Club, Nagoya
1 Takumi Kanaya 67-65-64-65—261 ¥26m
T35 Brendan Jones 66-65-71-73—275 ¥689,000
MC Anthony Quayle 71-70– 141
MC Brad Kennedy 70-71—141
MC Michael Hendry (NZ) 70-72—142
PGA TOUR Americas
Totalplay Championship
Atlas Country Club, Guadalajara, Mexico
1 José de Jesús Rodríguez 68-65-67-70—270
T10 Charlie Hillier (NZ) 69-65-74-65—273
T39 Harry Hillier (NZ) 71-69-72-67—279
MC Jason Hong 72-70—142
PGA TOUR Champions
The Galleri Classic
Mission Hills Country Club, Rancho Mirage, California
1 Retief Goosen 66-68-69—203
T2 Steven Alker (NZ) 66-68-70—204
T9 Greg Chalmers 69-70-69—208
T26 Steve Allan 72-72-70—214
T26 Mark Hensby 72-68-74—214
T35 David Bransdon 72-75-68—215
T39 Richard Green 68-77-71—216
T55 Rod Pampling 70-77-72—219
T60 Michael Wright 74-74-72—220
T73 Stuart Appleby 75-78-73—226
